Samurai Jack Season 5 is the "Definitive End" of the Cartoon

It’s been a little over twelve
years since Samurai Jack aired its fourth season, and while the show was never
a huge hit when it originally aired on Cartoon Network, it’s developed quite a
cult following in the years since. This eventually led to development of a
fifth season by original Samurai Jack creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, but will
follow Jack fifty years later (thought the character has not aged) and feature
darker and more mature themes as well as more blood and violence. Samurai Jack
will also be moved to the Adult Swim timeslot on Cartoon Network to accommodate
the change in tone and increased level of violence.

This is more than likely a move
by Tartakovsky and Cartoon Network to appeal to older fans of the original show
who won’t necessarily be drawn in to a rehashing of Samurai Jack’s more
child-like elements from the original show. However, now the show-runner has
revealed that the upcoming fifth season will also serve as the final chapter
for the journey of Jack.

While speaking to EW, Tartakovsky
talked about the fifth season of Samurai Jack serving as a “definitive end” to
his vision of the character of Jack. While he didn’t rule out the possibility
of someone else coming in and filling the fifty year gap between the fourth and
fifth seasons, Tartakovsky did confirm that this is “the end” for his journey
with the character. For his full thoughts on Samurai Jack and its conclusive
fifth season, read below:

“This is it. This is the definitive end,
and it’s a great end. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve storyboarded it, and I
think it’s super satisfying, and it should close the door for me for Samurai
Jack.

“Now, look, there’s 50 years between season
4 and season 5, and if somebody wanted to jump in and do some stories in
between, but for me this is the end.”

While it’s certainly a little
disappointing that Samurai Jack will only be coming back for one more season,
most fans are probably happy that the show is not only finally getting a proper
ending but that it’s finally embracing the more violent nature that the
original show merely hinted at. This apparently includes Jack finally tackling
with taking a human life after years of battling robots as well as a more long-form
story as opposed to the original’s more stand-alone nature.

Regardless of the increased
maturity level, there are certainly fans who would have preferred the original
Samurai Jack remain untouched, and simply see this as Cartoon Network and
Tartakovsky cashing in on television and Hollywood’s growing obsession with
reboots and remakes. Either way, it’s encouraging that Tartakovsky is trying
something different with the character instead of simply rehashing the same old
formula again and, perhaps more importantly, that Cartoon Network decided to
take a chance on such a risky concept.

Samurai Jack will debut its fifth
and final season on March 11, 2017 on Cartoon Network in its Adult Swim
timeslot.